6 Engadin and Graubünden Dishes You Must Try in St. Moritz — Nusstorte, Capuns, and Bündnerfleisch

Engadin and Graubünden food rarely gets the same press as mainstream Swiss fondue — yet it runs deeper and more distinctive than most visitors expect. Engadiner Nusstorte is the most celebrated souvenir of eastern Switzerland, and Capuns, the chard-wrapped dumplings, are a flavor you simply cannot replicate anywhere else. That said, be honest with your budget: good restaurants in St. Moritz are expensive, and CHF 40–50 per person per meal is a realistic floor.

#1

📍 Bakeries throughout St. Moritz, especially Hanselmann and Confiserie Zingg

Engadiner Nusstorte

The iconic pastry of the Engadin, born in the 19th century and now the most famous souvenir of eastern Switzerland. A thin, crisp butter-pastry shell wraps a rich caramel-walnut filling made from sugar, cream, and ground roasted walnuts. It is not over-sweet — the dark caramel brings a gentle bitterness that pairs beautifully with an espresso. Hanselmann on Via Maistra, open since 1894, still follows the original recipe.

Best time Year-round. Bakeries open from 7:30 a.m. daily — a slice of Nusstorte with morning coffee is the Engadin way to start the day.

How to get there Hanselmann, Via Maistra 8, in the Dorf district at the center of St. Moritz — 10 minutes on foot from the train station.

Travel tips

• Buy one in a gift box — it keeps for 2 to 3 weeks at room temperature, making it an excellent gift to bring home.
• Hanselmann on Via Maistra is the oldest café in St. Moritz; sit inside for coffee and a mountain view while you eat.
• A medium whole tart costs around CHF 15–20. Individual slices sell for CHF 4–6 if you want to try before committing.

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#2

📍 Restaurants and delicatessens throughout St. Moritz and Graubünden

Bündnerfleisch

Beef dried in the cold, dry winds of Graubünden, and one of Switzerland's Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) products. Quality cuts are seasoned with spices and left to air-dry in Graubünden mountain air for several weeks, producing dense, deep-red meat with a savory, rounded flavor and a faint scent of Alpine winter. Served paper-thin alongside rye bread and butter, it works equally well as a light snack or a starter.

Best time Available year-round. Best as a light lunch or dinner starter, paired with a glass of Graubünden Pinot Noir.

How to get there Every restaurant in St. Moritz carries it. For takeaway, try the Coop on Via Maistra in the town center.

Travel tips

• Order the antipasto or Vorspeisenplatte to enjoy Bündnerfleisch alongside local cheese and rye bread — better as a combination than on its own.
• Take some home from a delicatessen or a Coop or Migros supermarket; it keeps for 2 to 3 weeks refrigerated.
• Authentic product carries the IGP Graubünden seal on the packaging. Watch for imitations produced outside the canton.

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#3

📍 Traditional Graubünden restaurants and Beizli taverns around the Engadin villages

Capuns

The most authentically local dish of Graubünden, little known outside the canton. The filling is a spätzle dough mixed with Salsiz — a locally smoked pork sausage — which is then wrapped in Swiss chard leaves and simmered in a cream broth. The dish arrives blanketed in white cream sauce and a scattering of cheese. The flavor is rich and warming, the cream and cheese rounding against the mild bitterness of the chard. Alpine farmers have made this for hundreds of years before it became a point of cantonal pride.

Best time Lunch or dinner. This is firmly a cold-weather dish — winter is when it tastes best and feels most fitting.

How to get there Traditional Graubünden restaurants in St. Moritz — try Restaurant Veltlinerkeller on Via dal Bagn, or a tavern in Celerina, 2 km away.

Travel tips

• Look for it in traditional Graubünden Stube or Beizli taverns — it rarely appears on the menus of St. Moritz's luxury hotel restaurants.
• Try Capuns in Celerina or Pontresina: prices run 40–50% lower than in St. Moritz with no drop in quality.
• The dish is gently savory. If you want more richness, ask for extra cream sauce on the side.

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#4

📍 Restaurants and mountain restaurants throughout St. Moritz

Alpine Cheese Fondue

Fondue in St. Moritz and the Engadin uses local Graubünden cheeses — most often Vacherin Fribourgeois and Appenzeller — giving it a more intense, distinctly Alpine character than city-style versions. The cheese melts into Graubünden white wine and garlic, arriving at the table in a ceramic pot with rye bread and boiled potatoes. Eating fondue inside a timber chalet surrounded by snow is one of the defining Alpine experiences.

Best time December to March is ideal — the cold and the snow make it feel exactly right. Local restaurants serve it year-round.

How to get there Every restaurant in town has it on the menu. Two well-regarded options: Restaurant Cascade beneath the Kulm Hotel, and the historic Chesa Veglia, the oldest restaurant in St. Moritz.

Travel tips

• Restaurants on Corviglia and Piz Nair serve fondue with a snow panorama, but prices run CHF 35–50 per person — higher than in town.
• Do not drink cold water during fondue — Swiss tradition holds that it causes the cheese to set in your stomach. Stick to white wine or hot herbal tea.
• If your bread falls off the fork into the pot and sinks, tradition calls for a small forfeit paid to the table — it keeps the atmosphere light.

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#5

📍 Restaurants in St. Moritz, and in Valtellina, Italy — just across the border

Pizzoccheri

Short flat pasta made from buckwheat and wheat flour, the traditional staple of Valtellina in northern Italy — on the southern side of the Bernina range, just 30 km from St. Moritz across the Swiss-Italian border. The grey-brown buckwheat noodles are cooked with white cabbage, potato, butter, garlic, and Valtellina Casera cheese melted over everything. The result is dense and warming, with a distinctive buckwheat earthiness and the fragrant pull of melted cheese — exactly what a snowy day calls for.

Best time Winter and early spring — a high-energy Alpine farmer's dish that earns its place in cold weather.

How to get there Italian-Swiss restaurants in St. Moritz carry it occasionally, or ride the Bernina Express to Tirano, have lunch, and catch the train back.

Travel tips

• The original Pizzoccheri comes from Tirano, Italy — the final stop on the Bernina Express. Try both sides of the border and compare.
• Some restaurants in St. Moritz list it as a seasonal winter dish; if you do not see it on the menu, ask.
• It is a filling single-course meal on its own — order it after a day of skiing or hiking and you will not need anything else.

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#6

📍 Graubünden restaurants and mountain valley taverns

Gerstensuppe (Barley Soup)

Barley soup has been an everyday staple for Graubünden residents for hundreds of years. Barley is slow-cooked with root vegetables, smoked beef (Salsiz) or Bündnerfleisch in bone broth until the liquid turns thick, warming, and filling. At CHF 12–18 for a large bowl, it is the most affordable item on the local menu. Maluns — the companion dish — is grated potato fried with flour and butter, served alongside Appenzeller cheese and apple compote. Both are the most down-to-earth dishes you will find on any St. Moritz menu.

Best time Lunch or dinner in winter — the most satisfying and cost-effective way to warm up after skiing or a snow walk.

How to get there Local Beizli taverns in Celerina (2 km) or Pontresina (8 km). Take bus line 3 from St. Moritz center.

Travel tips

• Barley soup and Maluns appear in small Beizli taverns outside the luxury quarter — look for them in Celerina, Pontresina, or Samedan nearby.
• At CHF 12–18 a bowl, they are genuinely cheap compared to the CHF 35–40 starting price of most St. Moritz restaurants.
• Eat Maluns with a large spoon, scooping potato and cheese together in every bite — the texture is like a softer, creamier hash brown.

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